Improvement in gate-latches



W. P. EATON. Gate-Latch.

No. 197,112. Patented Nov. 13, I877.

' WITNIEEEEE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

WILLIAM F. E TON, or wABAsH, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEM EN.T IN GATE-LATCH ES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 197,112, dated November13, 1877; application filed September 727, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W. F. EATON, of Wabash, in the county of Giles andState of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGate-Latches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as ,will enable othersskilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in gate-latches: and it consistsin a verticallymoving latch and eccentrically-pivoted supporting blocks,for holding the latch in a raised-up position until the gate is closed,when the latch immediately falls and locks the gate, as will be morefully described hereinafter.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection through one of the posts;

0, represents an ordinary gate, and b 0 its two posts. The post chasavertical groove cut in one side of its face, in which groove moves along latch, 01. This latch has a projection, 0, extending outward fromits outer side through a slot in the covering-board, which holds thelatch in position, and under which projection the lever g, pivoted uponthe side of the gate,

' catches, for the purpose of raising the latch upward.

Through the inner edge of the coveringboard h, which keeps the latch inpgqsition, and through the inner edge of the latch, are cut one, two, ormore notches or recesses, 13, through which the two extended ends 1 ofthe panels of the gate pass as the gate is being opened and closed.

Back of the groove in which the latch slides are made one, two, or morerecesses, corresponding to the number of the notches i, and in theserecesses are eccentrically pivoted the supports 0, which, when left freeto act, swing forward so that the point or projection 4* near theirlower ends will catch in the notches in the latch, and hold it in anelevated position.

The operation of my gate is as follows: By bearing down upon the upperend of the handlever 9 its lower end is made to catch under theprojection e on the side of the verticallymoving latch d. The momentthis latch is moved upward until the notches in its side come justopposite to the notches in the side of the'covering-board h, theeccentricall -pivoted supports 0 immediately swing forward at theirlower ends, so that the projections 1' will catch in the notches andhold it suspended. When the gate is closed, the two projecting ends lofthe panel pass into the notches of the covering-board h, and, strikingagainst the projections 1", move them back from under the latch, whenthe latch immediately falls and locks the two projecting ends of thepanel behind it until the latch is again raised upward.

By means of my invention it is impossible to lift the gate off of itshinges, and the gate is held much more firmly and securely in positionthan is usually done by the hinges now in use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The post 0, having agroove cut in its side for the vertically-moving latch, in combinationwith a lever, g, for raising the latch, and the covering-board, havingnotches in its inner edge corresponding to the notches in the latch,substantially as shown.

2. In combination with the vertically-moving latch d, having notches inits side, the eccentrically-pivoted supports 0, having lugs orprojections on their sides to support the latch, and the projections lon the end of the gate for pushing the supports backward, substantiallyas described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand andseal this 27th day of August, 1877.

WILLIAM FRANKLIN EATON. [L. 8.]

Witnesses:

E. T. MAnooN, WILLIAM HENRY STABLE.

